First off, I apologize to my friends and roleplay partners who've been left hanging. Any desire to cancel old threads is completely understandable.

I've been struggling with a serious health issue the past several months. There was a long period where things would seem to improve only to relapse, delaying things further. All that aside, just wanted to let people know I'm around again and to contact me via PM or Trillian - ironsoldier, if anyone wants to get things going again.

Taylor gave Johnny a look, and then threw back a shot of whatever she happened to pick up. She shuddered as it burned it's way down into her belly, and then leaned into Johnny and whispered "I know. But fuck Talia, we got this." She gave him a little smile and looked at Cassie, who timidly picked up a shotglass and held it in both hands.

"So I remember when Bear used to be a little chatterbox and I was the one who was all quiet and stoic and stuff," Taylor remarked as she gazed fondly at the redhead, thinking back to old times. "Until Talia happened. Back at our gym in New York where we trained, she'd come in and have like three huge guys around her, telling them about her day and stuff. I'd show up and guys were like 'aww, it's Parker! Go learn how to cook, bitch' and I'd be like 'fuck you and ya mother! I'll beat your ass for a warmup!'" She said, using a heavy New York accent for the story. She chuckled and shook her head. Those were the days. Not very good ones, but they were days.

"Of course, me and Bear weren't really friends back then. Maybe you don't know her very much, but like, she wanted to be my friend, ya know. Like, in her mind, we were bestest buds, and I just hadn't figured it out yet. We ended up living together just like out of necessity, since we were the only two girls around and I couldn't go back home. One time we were at the mall, I don't even remember how we ended up there, I think Cass just followed me around, and I bought her a pair of shoes. Chucks. We got matching pairs. To her, it was like, proof that we really were best friends forever. I never heard the end of it."

"And now we are best friends forever," Cassie said quietly, but with a smile.

"Yup." Taylor nodded. Cassie sipped her shot and made a face. Taylor laughed.

"Sooooo, do you guys have matches scheduled? Sorry, I don't remember if you said already..." Cassie asked. She had been a little distracted, she might've forgotten a few details about the evening.

Charlie downed a shot and listened to Taylor as she spoke, smiling and nodding as she discussed a bit of her exploits in NY. Of course, she spoke about Talia happening as if it were an event, not a person. At least she didn't trash her, so Charlie decided to just smile and nod. He already blew up once sticking up for someone they didn't hate, so doing it all over again to stick up for Talia would piss them off which in turn would piss off Alaina whose planned night of fun was already not at all what she hoped it would be. As Taylor finished Charlie grabbed another shot glass and downed the Jack. "As far as matches go I have one against... oh crap whats his name? Armando Rodriguez?" Charlie said as he tried to remember. "Alaina doesn't have anything scheduled just yet as far as I know."

A little bit of Taylor's story reminded him of how he and Alaina lived together out of necessity. "I hear ya Taylor. When we came over here we didn't know the language. She gave her car to her parents because she was living in the city, and I kept mine. It made sense financially before, but now we're both making more and probably gonna move soon, or something." Charlie said. The two had discussed the possibility of moving into their own places. Initially there weren't problems, but now that each one was seeing someone it added a certain degree of awkwardness to things.

Alaina and Mamouru emerged from her room and rejoined everyone as the conversations continued. At the very least everyone appeared to have a happier look on their faces than they did when Alaina and Mamouru went off to have a talk. "Yeah, no matches on the radar for me but hopefully that'll change soon." Alaina said. "Its nice having a match scheduled, having something to look forward to is never a bad thing."

Charlie turned towards the two and spoke up. He didn't want to ruin the mood or anything but he knew an apology was the right thing to do. "Hey dude, sorry about earlier. I blew up when I shouldn't have, and it was totally out of line." Charlie said as he grabbed the last two shot glasses, offering them to Alaina and Mamouru.

Mamouru sat down and listened to everyone talk. Eventually it got around to business and Mamouru spoke up. "I've been looking for potential matches for Alaina-san. Hopefully she'll have a match soon. " He said smiling.

Mamouru waved off the shot and nodded at Charlie. "It's fine." He then turned to Taylor. "What about you, nee-san?" He looked at Cassie. "Cassie-san?"

"You came to Tension to fight guys?" Taylor raised an eyebrow at Charlie. That was confusing. There were so many other places that actually did that, and Tension almost specifically did not promote male wrestling. Weird.

She and Cassie nodded together. "I'm gonna go raise some hell in Friction and see what happens. I'm just going to take any match I can get until I can get to Angel. Or whoever has the title by then. I don't care who I fight, but I'm coming for the title."

Cassie glanced at Mamouru. "It's been kind of slow going for me. I was gone for a while, and then when I came back I was sort of out of the loop. I don't have a manager right now, either, so I just haven't been put in many matches yet. I only had one this year..." She played with her shot glass, pushing it back and forth from one hand to the other, and then looked up at Alaina. "Are you having trouble finding an opponent?"

"Heh, yeah Taylor. There wasn't anything going on back home that was getting anywhere. Over here there weren't any male only promotions interested in someone with my skill set soooooo here I am. I know a lot of women who are terrific fighters, but I'd rather fight guys because I've never hit a woman before and want to keep it that way as long as I can." Charlie said with a shrug. What he just said would make some sense to 99.9% of the population, but everyone in AFW had him pegged as nutty when he gave his reasoning.

"Yeah, a little bit. I am in a position where I want to really see where I am at against good, credible women on the roster." Alaina said to Cassie. "Its just that I'm still a newbie, bottom feeder or whatever you want to call me and there's a lot of women that won't give me the time of day, or they just see me as an easy win." She added with a sigh. She knew her place, and that she had to prove herself to management, the fans, and the others on the roster. However, patience in this regard wasn't her strong suit. Alaina believed in herself, and knew she could make a big impression on everyone if she got a chance against an established wrestler. Hell, she could feel it. All she needed was a chance.

Johnny raised an eyebrow at Charlie's reasoning. As far as chivalry went, Johnny thought pretty highly of himself. He was polite and courteous, especially to women. However, he'd also had his manhood nearly mangled on more than one occasion by a girl who was all too happy to do it. Some of his best friends were girls and they'd probably call him a pussy if he DIDN'T hit them. It was a strange world but he was pretty sure that Charlie was off base a little with his life choice considering he signed up to a league that almost exclusively had male-female matches and he wanted no part of it. Johnny was cool enough to not take Charlie's words personally either, but he did give some pause. Johnny had to admit there was a part of him that liked it more than he probably should. He flashed Taylor a careful look.

Mamouru raised an eyebrow at Cassie's words, tilting his head curiously. "Were you looking for a new manager?" He asked. He was surprised she hadn't tried to recruit his mother. That would just be one last twist of the knife. But he wasn't feeling bitter while he spoke. His tone was curious and intrigued until Alaina spoke up.

"Alaina-san.' He said, almost scolding her. "Is that how you feel? No matter what position you have, you have to understand that you're in the best position to move forward. You've had enough matches that you're hardly a rookie anymore. You just need to start building yourself up and gaining experience and improving your record." He encouraged.

Cassie silently shook her head. She had thought about asking Junko to manage her, or at least to help her get better matches, but she decided against it. It would be weird to have Mamouru's mom managing her. She wanted to avoid the potential for unpleasantness.

"Everybody is new before anything else," Cassie said. "But I don't think anyone sees you as an easy win. You're so big! But... what about me?" She asked, drawing Taylor's attention. "Am I credible?"

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Charlie laughed along with Taylor and shrugged. If everyone thought he was crazy at least it provided an honest laugh during the evening and there was nothing wrong with that in his estimation.

Alaina was surprised by Cassie's remark about her size. "Ah, thanks. I guess being bigger has helped me out a lot." Alaina said honestly. If it weren't for that she'd be a ho-hum wrestler at best. At least she knew she had the potential to be more, and felt as if she could work hard enough to make it a reality.

Cassie's second remark really caught Alaina's attention. A few minutes ago Alaina swore Cassie saw her as a "random girl" Mamouru was sleeping around with. Alaina knew Cassie had a reputation as a great submission wrestler who had a long standing background in grappling. Alaina wasn't a slouch in submissions, but her grappling wasn't up to snuff, especially against someone like Cassie. However, Alaina was confident she was making good progress in that department. It was then that something clicked. Was Cassie asking for a match? How would Mamouru feel about this? The last thing Alaina wanted to do was make him feel uncomfortable, but maybe this was a chance for Alaina to show Mamouru that she could be as good as Cassie... "Of course you are credible! I have heard that your grappling and submission skills are top-notch and I have zero reason to doubt that its true. If you are saying what I think you are saying, would you be willing to have a match with me?"

Mamouru could feel in his gut where the conversation was heading. He still remembered to this day practically begging Aurora not to take the match with Cassie. He didn't want it one bit and it had gone far worse than he could have ever imagined. He was feeling pale and sick and...

Mamouru found himself digging his fingers into his legs. Why would Alaina push for the match? As much potential as she had, he knew Cassie would destroy her. He didn't think she could stand up to her submission work. And then what? Cassie could rub it in his face.

However, Cassie's words had him taken aback. He looked at her, meeting her gaze and pulling away instantly. "I... I need to think about it..." The words almost escaped him, rather than being spoken. Mamouru pushed out from the table and stood up.

"Excuse me." He said. "I ... just need a moment of fresh air... to think..." He wasn't feeling like he had been before. Really, he just needed to wrestle with the idea thanks to Cassie's words. His gaze caught Cassie's once more as he stood up and made for the exit once again.